Rotary wing assembly

ABSTRACT

An improved rotary wing assembly is disclosed, in which a tilted bearing body is provided around a principal rotary shaft to which are fixedly secured base end portions of rotary tractive rods, while base portions of rotary following rods are pivotably secured to said tilted bearing body. At the rigid base portion of each wing are drilled two bearing bores extending towards the tip of the wing, and into these respective bearing bores are slidably fitted said rotary tractive rod and rotary following rod respectively. As said principal rotary shaft rotates the angles of attack of the wings are varied to generate lift and an advancing force when the wing moves down.

United States Patent [72] lnventor Yoshiyuki Oguri 9-7, Minami Aoyama 7-chome, Minato-Ku, Tokyo, Japan [21] Appl. No. 770,162

[22] Filed Oct. 24, 1968 [45] Patented May 18, 1971 [32] Priority July 9, 1968 [54] ROTARY WING ASSEMBLY Primary Examiner-Everette A. Powell, Jr. Attorney-Ira Milton Jones ABSTRACT: An improved rotary wing assembly is disclosed, in which a tilted bearing body is provided around a principal rotary shaft to which are fixedly secured base end portions of rotary tractive rods, while base portions of rotary following rods are pivotably secured to said tilted bearing body. At the rigid base portion of each wing are drilled two bearing bores extending towards the tip of the wing, and into these respective bearing bores are slidably fitted said rotary tractive rod and rotary following rod respectively. As said principal rotary shaft rotates the angles of attack of the wings are varied to generate lift and an advancing force when the wing moves down.

PATENTED W1 8 |97| SHEET 2 BF 5 PATENTEU MAY 1 8 Ian SHEET 3 OF 5 Yushzyuk Ugum ROTARY WING ASSEMBLY The present invention relates to improvements in or relating to a rotary wing assembly suitable for V/STOL (Vertical Shortdistance Takeoff and Landing) aircraft.

I invented a rotary wing assembly in the past which can realize the flight effect of a creature due to flapping motion by means of rotational motion of tentlike wings (US. Pat. No. 3,321,022). The present invention involves a remarkable development of said prior invention.

One object of the present invention is to fan out the air more effectively as the wing moves through the down going part of its orbit to generate a lift and an advancing force, and another object of the invention is to enable variable adjustment of the tilting angle of the wing surface so as to minimize its resistance to the air.

Yet another object of the invention is to prevent the occurrence of vibration and flutter during the rotation of the wings.

Still another object of the invention is to prevent a disappearance of the lift due to a vortex phenomenon which was inevitable in the case of the rotor of a helicopter in the prior art.

A further object of the invention is to make the V/STOL aircraft 1 ss affected by the ground effect so that it may take off orl or any unregulated land.

The present invention will be more fully understood from the fOlIO ing description with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a mono-wing-type of rotary wing assembly which isthe basic type of the rotary wing assembly according to the present invention,

FIG. 2 is a perspective view explaining the mounting of rotary tractive rods onto a principal rotary shaft,

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing base end fitting rings of idle following rods,

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a tilted bearing body which is adjustingly rotatable about the axis of the principal rotary shaft,

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the fitted state of the base end fitting rings of the idle following rods as shown in FIG. 3 with respect to the tilted bearing body as shown in FIG. v

FIG. 6A is a cross section view of the wing used in the mono-wing-type of rotary wing assembly as shown in FIG. 1 taken along the line a-a',

FIG. 6B is a cross section view of the same wing taken along the line b-b',

FIG. 6C is a cross section view of the same wing taken along the line c-c,

FIG. 7 is the plan view of a wing having a shape of the wing of a bat to be used in the rotary wing assembly according to the present invention,

FIG. 8 is a plan view of a bladelike wing to be used in the rotary wing assembly according to the present invention,

FIG. 9A is a cross section view of the bladelike wing shown in FIG. 8, with a flexible outer portion, taken along the line a-a'FIG. 9B is a cross section view of the same flexible bladelik wing taken along the line H,

FIG. 9C is a cross section view of the same flexible bladelike wing taken along the line c-c',

FIG. 10A is a cross section view of the flexible bladelike wing shown in FIG. 8 taken along the line H in conditions where said blade has bent backward under the influence of air resistance during its rotation.

FIG. 10B is a cross section view of the same flexible bladelike wing taken along the line b-b during its rotation,

FIG. 10C is a' cross section view of the same flexible bladelike wing taken along the line c-c' during its rotation,

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a bearing tube to which a bearing body for the idle following rods is to be mounted,

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the rocking joint comprising the bearing body for the idle following rods and the bearing tube shown in FIG. ll,

FIG. 13 is an enlarged cross section view of the means for periodically regulating the angle of attack of the wing comprising the parts shown in FIGS. 11 and 12,

FIG. I4 is a front view for explaining the flapping down operation of the wing in each mono-wing-type of rotary wing assembly where according to the invention are equipped symmetrically'on both sides of an airborne vehicle,

FIG. 15 is a front view for explaining the flapping up operation of the wing in the same mono-wing-type of rotary wing assembly,

FIG. 16 is a plan view of the airborne vehicle as shown in FIGS. 14 and 15.

FIG. 17 is a side view for explaining the operational state and the principle of flight of each mono-wing-type of rotary wing assembly during the forward flight of the airborne vehicle as shown in FIGS. 14 to I6,

FIG. 18A is a diagrammatic view for explaining the effect upon the air of the wing in the mono-wing-type of rotary wing assembly as shown in FIG. 17 during its flapping down operation,

FIG. 18B is a diagrammatic view for explaining the effect upon the air of the wing in the same mono-wing-type of rotary wing assembly as shown in FIG. 17 during its flapping up operation,

FIG. 19 is a diagrammatic view for explaining the state of tilting and the effect upon the air of each mono-wing-type of rotary wing assembly during the vertical flight of the airborne vehicle as shown in FIGS. 14 to 17,

FIG. 20 is a diagrammatic view for explaining the attitude and the effect upon the air of each mono-wing-type of rotary wing assembly during the backward flight of the same airborne vehicle, 7

FIG. 21 is a side view of an airborne vehicle equipped with slantingly opposed rotary wing assembly pairs each consisting of two mono-wing-type of rotary wing assemblies in combination, on the front and rear portions, respectively, of the vehi cle body,

FIG. 22 is a plan view of the airborne vehicle as shown in FIG. 21,

FIG. 23 is a front view of the airborne vehicle as shown in FIG. 21,

FIG. 24 is a front view of an airborne vehicle equipped with another embodiment of the slantingly opposed type of rotary wing assembly pairs according to the present invention,

FIG. 25A is a diagrammatic view for explaining the effect upon the air of the tentlike wing of the rotary wing assembly according to my prior invention, as disclosed in the abovementioned US. patent, during its flapping down operation, and

FIG. 25B is a diagrammatic view for explaining the effect upon the air of the tentlike wing of the rotary wing assembly according to my prior invention during its flapping up operation.

Referring now to the drawings, in FIG. I a principal rotary shaft is indicated at I, and to its tip portion is fixedly secured rotary tractive rods 3, 3 having curved base portions 2, 2 main portions of the rods 3, 3 extend at a right angle to the principal rotary shaft I and are arranged symmetrically with respect to the same. At 4 is shown a tilted bearing body having a circumferential annular recess 6 and a bore 5 through which extends said principal rotary shaft 1 around the circumferential annular recess 6 of said tilted bearing body 4 are rotatably fitted, as by insertion of bearings, base end fitting rings 8, 8 to which are secured idle following rods 7, 7 that are formed at a certain angle of sweepback with respect to the center line of said tilted bearing body 4, so that the idle revolution surface of the idle following rods 7, 7 forms a flat conical idling trace surface which is tilted with respect to the revolution surface of the rotary tractive rods 3, 3. These revolution surfaces are formed in such manner that the extension of the axial line d-d' of the rotary tractive rods 3, 3 and the extensions of the axial lines e-e', e-e' of the following rods 7, 7 may intersect at one point g on the axial line f-f of the principal rotary shaft which point corresponds to the center of symmetry of the complete circumferential annular recess 6 of the tilted bearing body 4. The arrangement of the rods for such intersection of their extended axial lines can be achieved by adjusting the distance between the upper projecting annular portion 9 of the tilted bearing body 4 and the ends of the curved base portions 2, 2 of the rotary tractive rods 3, 3.

On said rotary tractive rods 3, 3 and said idle following rods 7, 7 are pivotably fitted the respective bearing bores 12, 12' which are provided in hard base portions 11 of wing frames at a predetermined angle to each other so that the rods may freely rock in the bores, and at the respective outer ends of the bores, snap rings 13, 13, 13, 13 are provided on the respective rods. The configuration of said wing frame 10 takes, in one case, the shape of the wing of an insect as shown in FIG. I in which the entire circumference is of flat shape and between the front frame and the rear frame is provided a branch frame 14; and in another case it takes the shape of the wing of a bat as shown in FIG. 7, in which the rear frame section is completely removed. In any case, said'wing frame is formed of tough metal, glass fibers, synthesized resin series material, wood, etc. or composition thereof, and also it is constructed so as to have increasing flexibility from its front portion towards its rear and tip portion. In addition, on its back surface the wing frame 10, 10' having the above-mentioned structure is covered with a thin and tough sheet of wing surface material in a stretched state. Alternatively, in some cases the material and fonnation of the wing surface are of bird wing shape such that narrow wing strips are arranged in parallel to form overlapped slits, and in other cases the wing is formed in a propeller blade shape or in a rotor blade shape as in the prior art, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9. However, in these cases aiso it is necessary to increase the flexibility of the wing from its front portion towards its rear portion and tip portion as in the-case of the aforementioned framed wings r, w. Still further, in some cases the material and configuration of the wing are modified in such manner that the attitude of the wing surface as shown in the cross section views of FIGS. 10A, 10B and 10C, in which the rear portion 21 of said flexible bladelike wing w is warped upwardly by the air resistance, is solidified by means of tough and rigid material having little flexibility or by means of hardened and laminated forms of the same material to provide a completely hard wing, and in other cases the wing is fonned in a hollow monocoque or honeycomb structure as in the wing structure of the prior art aircraft. The above-mentioned various wings are generally termed wing w" hereinafter.

Rotating now the principal rotary shaft 1 of the mono-wingtype of rotary wing assembly r as shown in FIG. 7 in the direction of the curved arrow 0, the angular distance between the rotary tractive rods 3, 3 and the idle following rods 7, 7 respectively is always maintained constant by the respective bearing bores 12, 12', l2, 12' provided in the respective hard base portions 11, 11 of the wings w, w. Also the idle revolution surface of the respective idle following rods 7, 7 is adapted to form a flat conical idle trace surface tilted with respect to the revolution surface of the rotary tractive rods 3, 3 by the action of the tilted bearing body 4, so that a periodical interaction is produced between the respective revolution (idle) surfaces. Consequently, due to the aforementioned interaction, the wings w, w take an attitude of the smallest attack angle most closely along the revolution surface of the rotary tractive rods on the side d where the two revolution (idle) surfaces come closest to each other, and as the two revolution (idle) surfaces move further apart from each other, the attack angle increases gradually. Finally on the side d where the two revolution (idle) surfaces become farthest apart from each other the wings take an attitude of the largest attack angle. Thus the change of attack angle of the wings w, w during the aforementioned rotation occurs periodically in accordance with the rotation of the principal rotary shaft 1 and the rotary tractive rods 3, 3.

The penetrated bore 5 of the tilted bearing body 4, having the complete circumferential annular recess 6 of the monowing-type of rotary wing assembly r provided with the above mentioned means, can be enlarged and fitted around a bearing tube 16 as shown in FIG. 11 with room remaining therebetween, and then the center of the cylindrical body of said tilted bearing body 4 can be supported by supporting axles 17, 17 projecting oppositely on both sides of said bearing tube 16 so that it may be freely rocked as shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, whereupon said tilted bearing body 4 is made rockable by means of a lever 18 connected to any suitable tilting angle control device. It is thus possible to freely tilt the idle revolution surface of the idle following rods 7, 7 on either side, and consequently, by adjusting the above-mentioned means, that is, the control device s for the periodically varying attack angle of the wings w, w, the attack angles of the wings may be made either symmetrical on both sides in a propeller shape, or oppositely larger and smaller on the respective side as case of the helicopter rotor.

In addition, if a lever 19 is provided on the cylindrical base portion of the tilted bearing body 4 of the mono-wing-type of rotary wing assembly r as shown in FIG. 1 or on the cylindrical base portion of the bearing tube 16 as shown in FIG. 12, for rotating them respectively around the principal rotary shaft 1, the direction of tilt of the complete circumferential annular recess 6 of the tilted bearing body 4 may be freely varied by the operation of said lever, so that the azimuth for forming the maximum attack angle of the wings w, w which are subjected to the interaction with the tilted plane, may be freely varied. Hereinafter, the above-mentioned operating means is referred to as a control device for an azimuth angle forming the maximum attack angle.

Referring now to FIGS. 14 to 17, two sets of mono-wingtype of rotary wing assemblies r, r, which are correlated to each other so that they may be rotated in opposite directions, respectively, and so that the periodical change of the attack angle of the wings w, w may be symmetrically varied, are equipped on the top of the supporting poles 20, 20 on the respective sides of the airborne vehicle h. In case the maximum attack angle forming azimuth lines d-d, d-d of the respective flapping down wings w", w" when they are rotating from up to down on their respective outer sides as viewed from the front, is adjusted so as to form an upward camber angle, and both mono-wing-type of rotary wing assemblies r, r are rotated with the same period by the intermediary of the power transmission devices e, e coupled to a suitable prime mover e, there results on the outer sides d, d of the revolution surfaces of the respective mono-wing-type of rotary wing assemblies r, r the operation and effect upon the air of the wing similar to the flapping down motion of the creatures flap, while on the inner sides d, d, is carried out the operation and effect upon the air of the wing similar to the flapping up motion of the creatures flap. Consequently the airborne vehicle h moves in the direction of the thick solid arrow. The operation and effect upon the air of the respective wings, w', w", w, w" of the respective mono-wing-type of rotary wing assemblies r, r in this case will be described below.

FIGS. 17 and 18 respectively show a forwardly inclined attitude of the flapping down wings w, w and its effect upon the air at the point of time when the wings of the mono'wingtype of rotary wing assemblies r of said airborne vehicle h are flapping down at the maximum attack angle with respect to the revolution surfaces x-y, due to the interaction with the tilted plane of the complete circumferential annular recess 6 of said tilted bearing body 4, as viewed from the right side of the vehicle in FIG. 14. Then the flapping down wing w" fans out the air beneath the wing in the obliquely backward and downward direction as shown by solid line arrows, and due to the reaction of the backward flow b, a propelling force P is generated in the obliquely forward and upward direction. In case said flapping down wing has flexibility, the rear portion 21 of the wing w" is warped up by the air resistance, and consequently the backward flow b is warped backwardly. In the case of wings of hard material also, the warped up portion at the rear 21 produces the same effect upon the air, resulting in further enhancement of the propelling force P in the forward direction. However, the propelling force P generated on the side of the flapping up wing w as shown in FIG. 188, which acts transversely of the propelling force P generated on the side of the flapping down wing w", is very weak due to the warped downwardly as in the case of the small attack angle of said flapping up wing w with respect to the revolution surface y-x, so that the propelling force obtained on the side of the flapping down wing w is less-affected thereby, and therefore said propelling force remains and acts strongly as the resultant propelling force P of the rotary wing assembly.

The above-described propelling force P of the rotary wing assembly comprises, in combination, a component P of a force working in the vertical direction, that is, a lift component, and a component P" of a force working in the horizontal direction, that is, an advancing force, and thus it has a'basic capacity of advancing flight. The wing w, which has flapped down along the revolution surface x-y, then flaps up along the revolution surface yx as shown in FIG. 188 while decreasing its attack angle with respect to the revolution surface x-y due to the interaction with the tilted plane of the complete circumferential annular recess 6 of the tilted bearing body 4. More particularly, FIG. 188 shows the backwardly inclined attitude and the effect upon the air of the wing w at the point of time when the flapping up wing w takes the minimum attack angle with respect to the revolution surface y-x, as viewed from the right side in FIG. 15. Then, since the attitude of said flapping up wing w has the front and back surfaces reversed with respect to the above-mentioned flapping down wing w and also since the inertia of warping up at the rear portion of the wing w' due to the air resistance during the flapping down motion remains, said flapping up wing w flaps up at a small attack angle with respect to the revolution surface yx. while retaining an attitude having its rear portion 21 main wing of a glider. However, at this time if said flapping up wing w is advancing due to the horizontal component P" of the propelling force P generated by the flapping down wing w" as shown in FIG. 18, then said flapping up wing w flaps up at a large attack angle with respect to an air flow J coming from the front, and consequently as the advancing speed is raised. The air flow J coming from the front more strongly pushes up the flapping up wing w in the obliquely back and upward direction just as the principle of the kite. Then at the sacrifice of a small part of the advancing speed, that is, in the course of producing a small backward component of force P", there appears a considerably strong component P in the vertical direction, i.e., a

lift component. Furthermore, since this promotion of flap up of the wing w caused by the advancing speed would simultaneously promote the flapping down motion of the wing w" on the opposite side, the circulating rotary motion of the wings results in a great advantage in the generation of a lift. Therefore, the airborne vehicle h as shown in FIGS. 114 to 17, in which the effect upon the air may be produced symmetrically on the respective sides of the vehicle body as described, presents an excellent straightforward directionality due to the balance of the forces acting against the air symmetrically on the respective sides of the vehicle body, and also has a distinct advantage that as the advancing speed is raised it can fly with less rotating energy.

The ascending, descending and turning of the aforemen tioned airborne vehicle during its advancing flight may be achieved either by means of a normal elevator and/or a rudder, or by providing a pusher propeller 22 at the rear portion t of the vehicle body and varying the direction of the line of its propelling force.

Now there are provided tilting angle control devices i, i of the revolution surfaces of the rotary wing assemblies which are conveniently coupled to the operation system, at the ex tremity of the left and right supporting poles 20, 20 of said airborne vehicle h where the mono-wing-type of rotary wing assemblies r, r are equipped respectively. When the revolution surfaces of the respective rotary wing assemblies r, r are tilted so that the propelling forces P, P of the respective wings generated at the respective rotary wing assemblies r, r may be directed straight upwardly as shown in FIG. 19, the airborne vehicle h can ascend or descend vertically or can hover.

According to the above-mentioned method for obtaining a vertical lift while rotating the both outer sides of the tilted revolution surfaces of the flapping down wings w", w" from the obliquely back and up direction x to the obliquely forth and down direction, since the respective mono-wing-type of rotary wing assemblies r, r always take in air obliquely above the respective revolution surfaces which is not affected by the negative pressure of the back flows b, b of the rotary wing assemblies, the accident of losing lift due to a vortex phenomenon may be perfectly avoided, which was inevitable in the case of the helicopter rotor system which takes in only the air above the revolution surface that is strongly affected by the negative pressure of the back flows of the rotary wing assembly.

Still further, according to the above-mentioned method, there exists an advantage that the airborne vehicle is hardly affected by the ground effect, since the lift is obtained mainly by the fact that the flapping down wings w", w" of the respective mono-wing-type of rotary wing assemblies r, r flap the air on the respective sides. Therefore, as a characteristic feature, it can quite safely take off or land on an unregulated land where it was definitely impossible to take off or land in the case of the helicopter rotor which is strongly affected by the ground effect, and also it can quite safely hover at a very low altitude above the ground.

Then the attitude control around the three orthogonal axes of said airborne vehicle h during its hovering may be achieved by the change of torque of the left and right mono-wing-type of rotary wing assemblies r, r, change of the periodical attack angles on the respective sides, change of the azimuth angles forming the maximum attack angle on the respective sides, change of the tilting angles of the revolution surfaces of the respective rotary wing assemblies, change of the line of propelling force of the pusher propeller 22 at the tail of the vehicle body, etc.

If the respective revolution surfaces x--y, x-y of the respective mono-wing-type of rotary wing assemblies r, r of the above-described vehicle body h are caused to take the attitude of substantially horizontal rotation as shown in FIG. 20, so that the propelling forces P, Pof the rotary wings generated at the respective mono-wing-type of rotary wing assemblies r, r may act in the obliquely back and upward direction, then due to the precession effect caused by the gyro-phenomenon of the respective mono-wing-type of rotary wing assemblies, lifting moments m, m would act on the front sides y, y of the respective revolution surfaces so that the revolution surfaces xy, xy of the respective mono-wing-type of rotary wing assemblies r, r are equally tilted backwardly and also the propelling forces P, P of the respective rotary wings are further tilted, and thus the airborne vehicle h effectively achieves a backward flight. In this connection, since this principle for a backward flight is the same as the principle for a forward flight of a helicopter if the front and rear relation of the vehicle body is reversed, the mono-wing-type of rotary wing assembly r according to the present invention, can be naturally utilized as a helicopter rotor, too.

Now if the two sets of mono-wing-type of rotary wing assemblies r, r rotating in opposite directions with symmetrical change of their periodical attack angles as used in the afore mentioned airborne vehicle h, are mounted back and front in a double-cross-type of serial relation so that the respective revolution surfaces are directed in front and the principal rotary shafts i, l of the respective mono-wing-type of rotary wing assemblies r, r are aligned on the same straight line as viewed from above, the torques of the respective front and rear rnono-wing-type of rotary wing assemblies r, r are again offset with respect to each other, and the same effect upon the air as the flap down and flap up of the creature s flapping may be obtained respectively at the diagonal positions of the respective front and rear mono-wing-type of rotary wing as semblies r, r. When two sets of such double-cross-type of rotary wing assembly pairs are equipped in series above the airborne vehicle at its front and rear portions so that the respective revolution surfaces are directed in front, the rocking motions around the three orthogonal axes, caused by the reactions of the respective rotary wing back flows b, b produced at the diagonal positions of the respective double-cross-type of rotary wing assembly pairs, may be completely offset with respect to each other at the front and rear portions of the air borne vehicle, and thereby it can achieve a forward flight due to the same effect upon the air as in the case of rotating the respective mono-wing-type of rotary wing assemblies r, r of the first-mentioned airborne vehicle h in a vertical plane directed in front. Therefore, thehovering and backward flight of the last-mentioned airborne vehicle may be also achieved by tilting the revolution surface of each mono-wing-type of rotary wing assembly r similarly to the case of the first-mentioned airborne vehicle It, and ascending and descending during a forward flight as well as attitude control around the three orthogonal axes during hovering, are also achieved by the change of the periodical attack angles of the respective front and rear mono-wing-type of rotary wing assemblies, change of the azimuth angles forming the maximum attack angle of the front and rear assemblies, change of the tilting angles of the revolution surfaces of the front and rear assemblies, change of the lines of propelling force of the front and rear assemblies, etc. In other words, the last-mentioned airborne vehicle is equivalent to the first-mentioned airborne vehicle h in their principle of flight, and simultaneously the former retains the advantages of the latter.

Now referring to FIGS. 21, 22 and 23, two sets of monowing-type of rotary wing assemblies r, r constructed symmetrically to each other are equipped at the front and rear ends of the airborne vehicle h so that the front faces of the respective revolution surfaces may tiltingly oppose each other in an upwardly opened state, and more particularly, two sets of tiltingly opposed rotary wing assemblies r, r which are.

formed by rotatably mounting the base portions of the tilted bearing bodies 4, 4 or those of the bearing tubes l6, 16 on the respective inner sides of supporting poles 20', 20, having control devices k, k for the azimuth angle forming the maximum attack angle, are equipped at the front and rear ends of the airborne vehicle h' so that the directions of rotation of the respective tiltingly opposed rotary wing assemblies r, r are such that the wings rotate from up to down at the front and rear extremities. Adjustment is made such that the azimuth lines d-d', d-d forming the maximum angle with respect to the flapping down wings w", w in the respective revolution surfaces of the respective tiltingly opposed tilting wing assemblies r, r are inclined in the same direction respectively, and the respective tiltingly opposed rotary wing assemblies r', r are rotated at the same speed in opposite directions to each other by means of power transmission systems e, e, e, e coupled to any suitable prime movers e, 2. Then, the respective rotary wing back flows b, b, b, b of the respective tiltingly opposed rotary wing assemblies r', r at the front and rear ends of the airborne vehicle h, equally act in the obliquely backward and downward direction of the vehicle body, and thus the respective propelling forces of the rotary wings P, P, P, P caused by the reactions of the back flows are generated equally in the obliquely forward and upward direction of the vehicle body. Therefore, the airborne vehicle h makes a forward flight in the direction shown by a thick solid arrow due to the actions of both the components of P, P, P, P working in the vertical direction, that is, the lift components and the respective components of force P", P, P, P" working in the forward horizontal direction, that is, the advancing forces.

The ascending, descending and turning of said airbome vehicle h during a forward flight may be achieved by means of change of torques of the respective front and rear, and left and right mono-wing-type of rotary wing assemblies r, r, r, r, change of the periodical attack angles at the front and rear, and left and right assemblies, change of the azimuth angles forming the maximum attack angle at the front and rear, and left and right assemblies, change of the directional angles of the respective front and rear, and left and right assemblies,

etc. In addition, in order to achieve a backward flight of the above-mentioned airborne vehicle h, it is only necessary to change the respective directions of inclination of the azimuth lines d-d, dd forming the maximum attack angles of the respective tiltingly opposed rotary wing assemblies r, r at the front and rear ends of the vehicle body so as to tilt in the direction opposite to said first direction.

Furthermore, in the aforementioned airborne vehicle h, if the azimuth lines d-d, d-d forming the maximum attack angles of the respective tiltingly opposed rotary wing assemblies r, r at the front and rear ends of the vehicle body have been adjusted to form an upper camber angle, then the respective rotary wing back flows b, b, b, b are produced symmetrically in both the outward and downward directions of the vehicle body as viewed from its front or rear direction or its sidewise direction, so that the components of force P", P", P", P" working in the horizontal directions of the respective propelling forces P, P, P, P of the rotary wings, which-act symmetrically in both the upward and inward directions as the reactions of the backflows, are offset with each other, while only the components of force P, P, P, P in the vertical direction, that is, the lift components remain unaffected, and due to the resultant effect, the airborne vehicle h can ascend, descend or hover quite safely.

Then attitude control around the three orthogonal axes, that is, against rolling, during the hovering of the aforementioned airborne vehicle h, may be achieved by the change of torques of the respective front and rear, and left and right mono-wing-type of rotary wing assemblies r, r, r, r, change of the periodical attack angles of the respective front and rear, and left and right assemblies, change of the azimuth angles forming the maximum attack angles at the respective front and rear, and left and right assemblies, change of the directional angles of the respective front and rear, and left and right rotary wing assemblies, etc.

Still further, in the above-mentioned airborne vehicle system h, if the method for tiltingly opposing the respective mono-wing-type of rotary wing assemblies r, r constituting the respective tiltingly opposed rotary wing assembly pairs r, r at the front and rear ends of the vehicle body, is changed in such manner that they are equipped on the respective outer sides of the supporting poles 20, 20 so that the back faces of the revolution surfaces of the respective mono-wing-type of rotary wing assemblies r, r are opposed to each other in a downwardly opened state as shown in FIG. 24, then also the resultant effect of the propelling forces P, P, P, P of the respective rotary wing assemblies caused by the reactions of the respective rotary wing backflows b, b, b, b are the same as that in the case of the above-mentioned airborne vehicle h as shown in FIGS. 21 to 23, and therefore, a flight effect similar to that of the preceding one could be naturally obtained.

Alternatively, only one set of the tiltingly opposed rotary wing assembly pair r may be equipped at the head of an airborne vehicle together with the provision of any suitable small rotary wing assembly for offsetting torque at the tail of said airborne vehicle. Then by adjusting these rotary wing assemblies, the propelling force of the rotary wings may be directed in the obliquely forward and upward direction to freely make a forward flight. The ascending, descending and turning of such an airborne vehicle during its forward flight, as well as the attitude control around the three orthogonal axes, that is, against the rolling, pitching and yawing during its hovering, may be achieved by making use of the method described above with reference to the airborne vehicle h and by the change of the line of propelling force of the small rotary wing assembly for offsetting the torque which is equipped at the tail. In the various applications of the above-mentioned tiltingly opposed rotary wing assembly pair r, if it is desired to rotate the two sets of tiltingly opposed mono-wing-type of rotary wing assemblies in a synchronous manner, it is only necessary to couple the respective extensions of the principal rotary shafts l, l of the respective mono-wing-type of rotary wing assemblies r, r to each other in a bent and freely rotatable 7 present invention, the angle formed manner by the intermediary of universal etc.

The airborne vehicles making use of the aforementioned tiltingly opposed rotary wing assembly pair r have an advantage that they could be formed in a very narrow vehicle body in comparison with the helicopter system in the prior art in which extensive wings are rotated in a horizontal plane, because in any case the mono-wing-type of rotary wing assembly r is rotated in a substantially vertical plane.

Referring now to the difference in the basic structure between the rotary wing assembly according to the abovecited prior invention by the present inventor (US. Pat. No. 3,321,022) and the rotary wing assembly according to the by the rotary tractive rod and the idle following rod in the rotary wing assembly according to the prior invention may be freely varied in accordance with the difference in the tensions of the tentlike wings stretched between the respective rods for supporting the same which are caused by the air resistance during their rotation, whereas in the rotary wing assembly according to the present invention, the angle between the respective supporting rods is adapted to be maintained always constant during their rotatron.

Therefore, the effect upon the air is also considerably different between the tentlike wing according to the prior invention and the wing w having the hard base portion 11 according to the present invention. Now comparing these two inventions with respect to the mono-wing-type of rotary wing assemblies, which is the basic embodiment of the respective rotary wing assemblies, and in the case of rotating in a vertical plane where the difference in advantages would appear most distinctively, the difference is as follows: FIG. 258 shows the effect upon the air of the tentlike wing v of the rotating wing assembly according to the prior invention in a flapping up state at the same point of time as that shown in FIG. 188 with respect to the flapping up wing w of the rotary wing assembly according to the present invention. In this case, since said tentlike wing v' in flapping up continues to contain the air beneath the wing surface as it did during its flapping down and reverses its front and back faces due to the action of the rotational inertia, it serves to shift the air in a slightly inclined back and upward direction I, and this results in a disadvantage that the reaction force p serves to somewhat offset the lift component P obtained on the side of the flapping down tentlike wing v" as shown in FIG. 25A. However, in the case of the flapping up wing w' of the rotary wing assembly according to the present invention as shown in FIG. 188, since the wing flaps up with its front and back faces reversed, while continuing the warped up state at the rear portion 21 of the wing during its flapping down motion due to the action of the rotational inertia, it has an advantage that as it flaps up it takes an attitude such that the rear portion 21 of the flapping up wing w is warped downwardly to avoid the air resistance, and consequently said flapping up wing w never reduces the lift component P at all that is obtained on the side of the flapping down wing w" as shown in FIG. 13A.

Still further, when the tentlike wing of the rotary wing assembly according to the prior invention is advancing as it rotates, the flapping up tentlike wing v which warps and projects in the obliquely forward and downward direction due to the rotational inertia as seen in FIG. 25B, will naturally be subjected to a phenomenon of suddenly warping inversely as shown by a dotted curve v due to the resistance of the air J flowing from the front. However, if this sudden inverse warping phenomenon is caused periodically, it will produce a vibration, and if it is caused irregularly, it will produce a flutter during the rotation. In either case, it prevents a smooth rotation of the rotary wing assembly. By contrast, in the case of the rotary wing assembly according to the present invention at the same operating point of time as the former as shown in FIG. 188, since the rotational inertia works strongly in view of the weight distribution due to the constitutive material of the wing, the upward warping at the rear portion 21 of the joints, bevel gears,

lltll flapping down wing w is forcibly sustained in itself and thus it flaps up with its front and back faces reversed. Therefore, even if the rotary wing assembly according to the present invention should be subjected to the resistance of the air J flowing from the front, the inversion effect in the warp of the wing w would never appear, and consequently there exists no vibration and no flutter at all which results from said inversion effect, so that an incomparably smooth rotational motion can be obtained as compared to the rotary wing assembly of the prior invention. In other words, according to the present invention, all the disadvantageous defects for generating a lift and a propelling force, which remain in the rotary wing assembly according to the prior invention, have been improved.

Furthermore, since the mechanism of the periodical attack angle control device S of the wing w for producing the excellent feature of the present invention is of such system that the tilted plane interaction of the complete circumferential annular recess 6 of the tilted bearing body 4 causes the rear portion of the wing w to fan, directly through the long and extensive axial bearing of the idle following rod 7, the present invention has an important advantage of assuring a tough strength, durability and accuracy of the wing, which is quite different from the delicate periodical attack angle control device for the helicopter rotor in the prior art. As a result, the feature has been obtained that the rotary wing assembly may be rotated smoothly without any vibration or flutter, even in the most unstable rotational attitude of rotating the broad wing win a vertical plane where the change of the air resistance most severely affects the rotation.

In addition, since the feature of the rotary wing assembly according to the present invention as described above with respect to the generation of the propelling force may be retained in any inclined state from the vertical attitude to the horizontal attitude of its revolution surface x-y, there exist further possibilities of deriving various other advantageous features by combining two or more rotary wing assemblies according to the present invention. Especially, the basic capability of obtaining both the lift and the advancing force without any adjustment, which may be realized only by the rotary wing assembly system of the present invention, results in a distinctive feature that a high speed forward flight, which was accompanied with various inconveniences in the case of the helicopter rotor system in the prior art, may be achieved without any difficulty from an aerodynamical viewpoint Still further, upon vertical taking off and landing, there never occurs the dangerous accident of lift disappearance due to the vortex phenomenon which was inevitable in the case of the helicopter rotor system in the prior art, and also there exists an advantage that taking off or landing on any unregulated land is enabled by reason of the rotary wing assembly of this invention being hardly affected by the ground effect. Therefore, if the excellent feature of the rotary wing assembly according to the present invention should be further grown and developed by making use of the idle rotary wing type of aircraft, there would be promised in the near future an aircraft which has an excellent taking off and landing property as well as a high speed property and an economy in transportation expense which are superior to those of not only the helicopter in the prior art but also the fixed wing aircraft in the prior art. In other words, the inventive idea for the flight principle based on the rotary wing assembly rotating in a substantially vertical plane, which was taken over from the prior invention to the present invention, would promote the appearance of various novel system of V/STOL aircrafts just as the bamboo propeller of old toys was developed to the modern helicopter.

While the invention has been described above in connection with the specific embodiments illustrated in the drawings, it should not be limited to only those illustrated in the drawings, but instead various changes or additions of the structural elements without departing from the spirit of the invention should naturally come within the scope of the present inventron.

I claim:

1. A rotary wing assembly of the type comprising a rotary drive shaft, a bearing body surrounding the drive shaft and relative to which the drive shaft rotates, said bearing body having its axis oblique to that of the drive shaft, a rotary tractive rod fixed to the drive shaft and extending substantially radially therefrom, a rotary following rod having a base portion slidably fitted around said bearing body to be rotatable therearound while being maintained by the bearing body in orientations substantially radial to the bearing body axis, and a wing carried by the tractive rod and the following rod conjointly and having a base end adjacent to the drive shaft and bearing body and a tip end remote therefrom, said rotary wing assembly being characterized by:

A. the wing having a rigid base portion adjacent to its base end and extending partway to its tip end;

B. the tractive rod and following rod having straight portions which are received in bores in said base portion that extend from the base end of the wing towards its tip end and are of such size as to permit the base portion to rotate relative to such rods but to have its angle to the drive shaft axis dependent upon the rotational positions of said rods; and

C. said tractive rod and said following rod being so arranged that the axes of their straight portions intersect on the axis of the drive shaft.

2. The rotary wing assembly of claim 1, further characterized by: the following rod extending at an oblique rearward angle to the axis of the bearing body so that as the following rod rotates around the bearing body it describes a conical surface coaxial with the axis of the bearing body.

3. The rotary wing assembly of claim 1, further characterized by: said bearing body being rotatable about the rotary drive shaft to provide for reorienting adjustment of the bearing body axis.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE A QERT IFICAT E OF CORRECTION Patent: No. '3 5 3 375 Dated m 18 1971 Inventor(s) x bjm jk m gi It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 2 line 3: After "where" insert -the mono-type of rotary wing assembly formed-- (Specification, page 4 line 2) Column 2 line 54: After "2,2" insert --The-- (Specification page 5 line 13) Signed and sealed this 7th day of September 1971.

(SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD M-FLETCHER, ROBERT GOTTSCHALK Atteflting Officer Acting Commissioner of Patents FORM 6 0-1050 [10-69) USCOMM DC 60375 P9 u s sovznnnem PRNTING ornc: I969 o-ass-au 

1. A rotary wing assembly of the type comprising a rotary drive shaft, a bearing body surrounding the drive shaft and relative to which the drive shaft rotates, said bearing body having its axis oblique to that of the drive shaft, a rotary tractive rod fixed to the drive shaft and extending substantially radially therefrom, a rotary following rod having a base portion slidably fitted around said bearing body to be rotatable therearound while being maintained by the bearing body in orientations substantially radial to the bearing body axis, and a wing carried by the tractive rod and the following rod conjointly and having a base end adjacent to the drive shaft and bearing body and a tip end remote therefrom, said rotary wing assembly being characterized by: A. the wing having a rigid base portion adjacent to its base end and extending partway to its tip end; B. the tractive rod and following rod having straight portions which are received in bores in said base portion that extend from the base end of the wing towards its tip end and are of such size as to permit the base portion to rotate relative to such rods but to have its angle to the drive shaft axis dependent upon the rotational positions of said rods; and C. said tractive rod and said following rod being so arranged that the axes of their straight portions intersect on the axis of the drive shaft.
 2. The rotary wing assembly of claim 1, further characterized by: the following rod extending at an oblique rearward angle to the axis of the bearing body so that as the following rod rotates around the bearing body it describes a conical surface coaxial with the axis of the bearing body.
 3. The rotary wing assembly of claim 1, further characterized by: said bearing body being rotatable about the rotary drive shaft to provide for reorienting adjustment of the bearing body axis. 